We've had our beardie for a couple weeks now - he's a 4yr old. He's been very regular - once a day, and sometimes even twice a day. His poops have been what we think are normal - a little liquid stuff, the white urate, and then the darker, more solid poop. This morning he had an "explosion" as you can see in this picture:

This is a close-up - sorry for the blurry picture, it's the best of 2 pictures and the deed was cleaned up.

There is a spot in his poop that almost looked like snot. Is this something to be concerned about? We can't get a fecal done for about a week where we live but we're planning on getting it done then. While we wait, we thought we would ask the experts!

Edit: Could it be a diet change? The previous owners were feeding mostly romaine lettuce. We've been giving bok choy greens, butternut squash, yams and parsnips. Mostly the bok choy with some of the other veggies on top to make it look good!

hellook i am far from an expert, the odd coloured bit in the middle i couldnt say what it is, sometimes my dragons poop some odd colours and things but its always normal, (they get fecal tests done regularly) their diet can turn their poop in certain ways also, as it is a bit runny and a lot of liquid, best to get checked for parasites regardless just to be safe. is it really smelly? if so then it could well be parasites or worms.

do you bath him? if so how often? with a well hydrated beardie you would expect to see some liquid, certain worms contain some water also which can make them have runny stools. as well as that i believe romaine lettuce is also full of water and not the recommended green to feed as a staple as it holds no nutrional purposes and that also would cause runny stools. id get it checked to put your mind at rest anyway.good luck.

I would get it checked too, just to be sure. A beardie can be loaded with pinworms and everything still seem normal. You just never know what else might be lurking in there. As far as the extra watery liquid, that's actually a fairly good sign that your dragon is well hydrated. The poop itself is well formed, not a pile of mush, this is also a good sign. The snot thing is mucous, that could mean something not so good is in there but is still fairly normal too. It's better to be proactive about his care and its good to get established with a vet ahead of time. Finding a vet you like isn't always that easy. Nothings worse than having a sick or injured beardie and rushing to vet you don't know and end up not liking or trusting. Been there. Good luck!

A quick update. Our beardie just had another poop. YEAH!! The question I have is this - we noticed today that there are undigested things coming through - not sure why that would happen. There is squash, superworm parts, and some other things. We've read on the forum here that pumpkin and butternut squash can help clear up some parasites. He's been eating butternut squash (un-cooked, shredded) for a few days now with his greens. Could this make his stools looser as well? Just looking for some ideas about this while we wait to be able to get the fecal done. The person here that does them is away for the rest of the week. He's also been very lazy today. Just lying on a rock under the MVB.

If he isn't digesting his food enough, either he didn't get hot enough or stay hot long enough to digest his food throroughly. You might see this if he eats something late at night just before his light goes off. Its best to make sure he gets a good 1-2 hours of basking time after eating. Its best to not feed him after a certain time, if there belly is full and they get cool many times it will get puked up. And yes, squash has a lot of water in it so it will loosen up the poos a bit, it has slight laxative properties for sure. I think the pumpkin is more fibrous and helps clear the intestines of parasites, but you have to give it to them for several days in a row. A lot of people do it on a schedule for cleaning maintenance on the bowels to avoid meds.

What are his temps? Do you have a digital probe thermometer to check them? You need to make sure its around 100ºF in his basking area. I forgot to ask this before!

Last edited by RioReptiles on Fri Mar 27, 2009 11:40 am, edited 1 time in total.

the runny poop has different causes. it can be from a parasitic infection but it may not be this.

what kind of veggies do you feed him? if you are feeding a watery vegetable such as cucumber or squash or some other waterfilled veg (or fruits) can cause runny poop due to the high hydration content. Also, on top of this if you soak him daily it can cause runny stool. Now if it persists then you will want to take a sample to the vet.

also the "mucus" looking part in the stool is part of the urate. it is normal dont worry about that part.

To me it looks like well to over hydration because the stool itself is well formed. was it an extremely overpowering smell that went along with the stool? parasitic infections not only cause runny poo but they also cause the poo to spell terrible (much worse than the normal smell attributed to your dragon pooping)

We take all his food out 2 hours before his lights go out. His basking temps are anywhere from 95-105 depending how often we open his enclosure for a visit. He's still new to us and getting comfortable with us so we never take him out for very long at once either. We take temps with a digital probe thermometer. Now that it is mentioned, I do remember him eating a lot of his salad in the evening just before we took his food out. We've been giving him lots of baths lately to help get him cleaned up from the last owner. He's actually starting to look clean now! His food - bok choy greens topped with either butternut squash, yams or parsnips. We give superworms daily and dust with calcium every other day and vitamins on Monday and Thursday. We'll keep an eye on him for sure. Thanks for the info about all of this.